Don Harrill, president and CEO of Orange Lake Resorts, home to Holiday Inn Club Vacations, was officially elected as Chairman of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) during the recent ARDA Convention and Exposition in Orlando. ARDA is the national trade association representing the vacation ownership industry.

"I couldn't be more pleased with having Don as our industry leader especially at this unique moment for vacation ownership," said Howard Nusbaum, RRP, ARDA's president and CEO. "Don has been a long-time advocate and tireless voice for our industry, as well as someone I've learned so much from during these challenging economic times. With his strong business, financial, and management skills, he is poised to be a truly effective leader for ARDA."

"I'm ecstatic and honored to take on this role with ARDA," said Harrill. "As America emerges from an economic crisis, it's a great time for us, as an industry, to have pride in our product and integrity in the process by which we share our product with consumers."

Created in 1982 by Kemmons Wilson, founder of the Holiday Inn brand, Orange Lake is a growing vacation ownership company which now includes six Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts. In 2008, Harrill successfully led the company to ink a strategic marketing alliance with IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), the largest hotel group by number of rooms, creating the Holiday Inn Club Vacations brand. Orange Lake Resorts is privately held by the Wilson family and continues to own and operate their resort locations, with nearly 3,000 total employees.

Harrill is a Registered Resort Professional (RRP) and has a rich resume in the world of timeshare. Before joining Orange Lake Resorts, he was president and chief executive officer of Trendwest Resorts. Prior to that he was president and chief executive officer of Hilton Grand Vacations Company, where he led the company's financial turnaround and developed and implemented their mixed-use hotel-timeshare resort strategy.

Harrill follows Jim Lewis, president of Disney Vacation Club as Chairman of ARDA. He is joined in the ARDA officer ranks by Wyndham Vacation Ownership president and CEO, Franz Hanning (chair-elect) and Baker Hostetler law partner Robert J. Webb, Esq., RRP (treasurer).

ARDA is the trade association for the timeshare industry. ARDA's membership comprises over 500 companies (both privately held firms and publicly traded corporations), which house 5,000-plus individual ARDA members. ARDA's active, engaged members have extensive experience in shared ownership interests in leisure real estate. ARDA's work — including proactive advocacy — touches every role within the timeshare industry. Developers, exchange companies, vacation clubs, timeshare resellers, timeshare owner associations (HOAs), resort management companies, industry vendors, consultants, and legal and regulatory experts are all part of the ARDA network. For more information, visit ARDA.org.

ARDA-ROC is a 501(c)4 non-profit entity funded by over 1.5 million individual timeshare owner's voluntary contributions. ARDA-ROC is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing vacation ownership through smart policy and sensible regulation. ARDA-ROC advocates for local, state, and federal policies that enable the vacation ownership industry to thrive and provide consumers with an enriched vacation ownership experience. For more information, visit ARDAROC.org.

Lou Ann Burney
202-371-6700
ARDA